Renard's cranesbill
Geranium renardii ·
Rounded, sage-green leaves with the texture of seersucker, soft as felt, in a neat dome; white flowers veined in violet in late spring.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 14 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers late May to late June
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around renard's cranesbill
The planner designed this bed around renard's cranesbill when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why renard's cranesbill stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Renard's cranesbill × 3, grey-green leaves
- 2 Winter heath × 11, pink
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 4 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 5, tan
- 5 Blue oat grass × 1, tan
- 6 Chives × 3, purple
- 7 Star of Persia × 4, purple
- 8 Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' × 6, blue
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 12 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 26% of the edge.
- 3 plants in one run. An unbroken run of one kind gives the edge a clean line.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, spring to frost. They cover the 9 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowers run from late January to early October: 36 weeks in all. The most in flower at one time is 3 kinds, from early June.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where renard's cranesbill goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
The geranium to grow for its leaves, which are unlike any other. It needs poorer, drier soil than its relatives to keep its tight shape. Excellent at the corner of a gravel bed.
- Textured foliage at the front
- Gravel gardens
- Edging
What to plant with renard's cranesbill
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Lamb's ear: bold leaves against its medium ones; spires rising out of its mound.
- Blue fescue.
- English lavender 'Hidcote': adds the flowers, late June to late July; spires rising out of its mound.
Questions about renard's cranesbill
Does renard's cranesbill need sun or shade?
Renard's cranesbill grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does renard's cranesbill grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should renard's cranesbill be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 14 in (35 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many renard's cranesbill plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like renard's cranesbill?
Renard's cranesbill is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Prairie alumroot: the same job in a bed and the same size; bold leaves, not medium, wants dry soil.
- Alpine aster: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers mid May to late June.
- Chives: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers mid May to mid June, fine leaves, not medium.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What does renard's cranesbill look like in winter?
Renard's cranesbill dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Geranium
- Armenian cranesbill Geranium psilostemon
- Bigroot cranesbill Geranium macrorrhizum
- Bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'
- Bigroot cranesbill 'Ingwersen's Variety' Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety'
- Bloody cranesbill Geranium sanguineum
- Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' Geranium sanguineum 'Max Frei'
- Cranesbill 'Ann Folkard' Geranium 'Ann Folkard'
- Cranesbill 'Azure Rush' Geranium 'Azure Rush'
- Cranesbill 'Ballerina' Geranium cinereum 'Ballerina'
- Cranesbill 'Biokovo' Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo'
- Cranesbill 'Brookside' Geranium 'Brookside'
- Cranesbill 'Johnson's Blue' Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'
- Cranesbill 'Karmina' Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Karmina'
- Cranesbill 'Orion' Geranium 'Orion'
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne' Geranium 'Gerwat' (Rozanne)
- Cranesbill 'Wargrave Pink' Geranium x oxonianum 'Wargrave Pink'
- Dalmatian cranesbill Geranium dalmaticum
- Himalayan cranesbill Geranium himalayense
- Meadow cranesbill Geranium pratense
- Meadow cranesbill 'Midnight Reiter' Geranium pratense 'Midnight Reiter'
- Mourning widow Geranium phaeum
- Mourning widow 'Samobor' Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'
- Showy cranesbill Geranium x magnificum
- Striped bloody cranesbill Geranium sanguineum var. striatum
- Wild geranium Geranium maculatum
- Wild geranium 'Espresso' Geranium maculatum 'Espresso'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 14 in (35 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to late June; open bowls; white, lavender
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; grey-green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.